Book reviews.

Volume 1, Using molecular marker technology in studies on plant genetic diversity: learning module, M. Carmen de Vicente and Theresa Fulton, Volume 2, Genetic diversity analysis with molecular marker data: learning module, M.Carmen de Vicente, C. Lopez and Theresa Fulton, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), Rome and Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2004 CD Rom, $40.00 ISBN 92 9043 627 1. The CD Rom developed jointly by researchers from the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI, Rome, Italy), the Institute for Genomic Diversity at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY, USA) and the Universidad Nacional Agriaria—La Molina (Lima, Peru) includes two volumes Using Molecular Marker Technology in Studies on Plant Genetic Diversity: Learning Module and Genetic Diversity Analysis with Molecular Marker Data: Learning Module in PDF format with links to the original Microsoft PowerPointw slide shows, from which the content ensues. The authors’ aim was to provide capacity building and research tools on biodiversity analysis with the aid of DNA markers, particularly for developing country users, who often cannot access up-to-date literature and ensuing technology. The first volume deals with molecular marker technology throughout and includes information on protein-, DNAand PCR-based methods. The second volume gives readers the opportunity to browse information on genetic diversity analysis using molecular marker data, and includes among its sections basic concepts of population genetics, measurements of genetic diversity and information about software programs for analysing such data. There are explanatory graphics that, together with photographs and research examples, assist the reader to understand better the experimental protocols about the use of molecular markers to assess genetic diversity and germplasm management. In this regard, this CD Rom could be a useful tool for university teaching in the subject or for a self-‘learning-by-doing’ approach. Likewise, the authors did a comparative analysis (including relative costs) of the protocols for biodiversity research with molecular tools, which can assist young researchers to select the most appropriate method for their own work. Useful reference and equipment lists are added in each module that are meant for scientists lacking deep knowledge on both genetics and plant molecular biology. I suggest that any further versions provide more raw data for exercises and their solutions, so the users of the CD Rom can learn more by doing the right analysis of such datasets. Thematerials included in this single CD Rom are of particular interest to plant genetic resources researchers, especially in the developing world, whereprintmaterials on the subjectmaynot be always easy to access or they may may be expensive, or sometimes the available books in the local library are outdated.


174
The Edinburgh Journal. Article 3.?Remarks on the Depopulation of Otaheite and Eimep, with an Account of some of the most common Diseases. By John Wilson, Surgeon to his Majesty's ship Porpoise.
This paper is no way inferior to the last, abounding with the same marks of sound judgment, the same industrious and unprejudiced spirit of research.
The first enquiry is into the probability of a greater popu^ lation formerly. This is satisfactorily proved. Among the diseases, fever is the most common, beginning with symptoms of the intermittent, and proceeding to remission, under which the patient often continues till nature is exhausted, or the disease produces some local effect which relieves the constitution. As far as we can collect, the sufferers are the poorer sort, who sleep on the ground, from want of better food are less able to resist miasmata; and, when ill, are unable to procure those remedies and those comforts which may cure, or enable them to struggle through the disease. The principal remedy is a removal to the islands a few miles north. The author expresses a doubt whether the fever should be considered as contagious. From his account it seems probable, that, like many other diseases,, though not originally contagious, yet among the crowded sick it generates a contagious fever partaking of its own type. Dysentry is another very fatal disease among them. It raged with great violence whilst the Porpoise was at the island, but the author does not inform us whether it infected any of the crew.
Probably it may become contagious only by the same means as their fevers.
Phthisis pulmonalis is more frequent, and becomes fatal sooner than with us. < Rheumatism is also not uncommon, and scrofulous tumours more frequent than in Britain. The author, however, makes allowances for the dress discovering every part affected, whilst in this country only the face, and sometimes the neck are discoverable, l>y being exposed. Epilepsy and hysterics are not uncommon, and are considered as demoniacal possessions, or the effect of supernatural intercourse, during which the patients are supposed to be inspired. In consequence of this, some of the older women are very expert at working themselves into, or counterfeiting, hysterics. Some ingenious reflections are added on this subject.
The author concludes with the following very pertinent remarks. " Some of the diseases which at present ravage these islands may, by some, be supposed to have been imported ; but of this we can have no evidence ; and probably all the elucidation the subject will admit of may be found in the analogy ot many countries which have been long healthy and populous, suddenly becoming overwhelmed with disease and death, from some revolution in nature* which is likely always to remain a mystery.
? Although The Edinburgh Journal. " Although disease must have had a very powerful influence on the depopulation, yet the greatest share is to be attributed to a custom which, although it has been practised as a system byothers, perhaps more civilized people, is of a nature the-most. barbarous and cruel that ever disgraced the species. This is infant murder, which is carried to such an extent, that some of the best informed of the missionaries have asserted, that at least two-thirds of the whole of the births on the island are destroyed the moment they have seen the light. Not only is the offspring of an unequalconnexion with respect to rank, either on thtf male or female side, invariably destroyed, but young men and women, who are every way equal, frequently agree to murder the innocent fruit of their pleasures ; and more females are destroyed than males.
" They appear to have no idea of any criminality being attached to this deed, and many of the women who had borne children, on being requested, did not scruple or appear abashed to tell us the number they had destroyed. The young king's wife,' although not twenty years of age, has, I think, killed two, which she pretended, were begot by some of her domestic attendants. " I have remarked, that at least two-thirds of the whole of the ?women on Otaheite are either middle aged or old, and that children are principally observed to be possessed by the former : for it is a very rare occurrence, indeed, to meet with a young woman rearing a child : likewise, that the whole of the females do not amount to above one-tenth part of the males ; from which it may be inferred, that they do not often save their children until about or after their meridian, and that infant murder has been of late years more frequent than at the time when those middle aged and old women were born. The more frequent destruction of females sufficiently accounts for their disparity to the males. It is a mere question of course with the natives, on hearing the news of a birth, to ask whether it is preserved. " They have many absurd customs in their treatment of children, particularly females, which certainly render the rearing of then^exceedingly troublesome ; but there is nothing of a sacrificial love of pleasure and avarice ; and these passions, but more particularly the latter, have gained much ground since their intercourse with us: indeed, I have often been struck with astonishr ment, when observing the eagerness with which they hoard European manufactures. They are also as well aware as we are, that the charms of women who rear families sooner decay ; and having experienced that female beauty is always a marketable article with their visitors, they have recourse to murder to preserve it. " Secondly^ At the Society Islands, where the same manners and customs prevail, and which have been less frequently visited by Europeans, infant murder is not so often practised ; consequently these islands are more populous, although they appear at present to labour under disease in the same degree as Otaheite. It must, therefore, be concluded, that the frequent visits of ships tend to decrease their numbers, not only by inducing a scarcity of food, but by striking at the very root of population. " War, undoubtedly, must be supposed to have considerable influence on their declension. In that which occurred in the interval between our voyages, it was said that five or six hundred perished, but these were chiefly old men and women; and this was the only war of any consequence since the arrival of the missionaries. There is also reason to believe that it was more frequent formerly than of late years, as the Bounty's mutineers and other deserters strengthened the authority of the present reigning family to a degree never before enjoyed by any chief. Therefore, war cannot be admitted to have had much influence in the present deficiency of numbers. " The custom of offering human sacrifices we have no reason to believe to have been more freqnent since their discovery. Probably the number offered will amount to twenty in a year, and, as they are always males, this cannot have a very powerful operation.
Polygamy may also have some effect; but as this custom must be supposed always to have existed, it cannot be considered to have had contributed to present depopulation. ' Articles 4.?Report of the Physical and Mathematical Class of the Institute, upon the Question, Are those Manufactures which emit a disagreeable Smell prejudicial to Health ? This paper will be found among our communications. The Editors have thought it right to add some observations of their own. These may have been necessary in Edinburgh, but in London the law of nuisances is so well defined by frequent decisions, that it is unnecessary to do more than hint the general outlines of it.
All inconveniences are cognizable by the justices, with an appeal to the quarter sessions. All unhealthy occupations are removeable. In considering such as are inconvenient by the smell they occasion, or any other cause, the first consideration is, whether the town has 'The. Edinburgh Jbnrndl. T??
Hes extended, to the nuisance, or the nuisance been'erected in an inhabited part ? In the former ca$p,-, it is Jydged unreasonable to dispossess the first occupier. In the latter it i^ considered, whether the erection, though at first in an inhabited part, .was.raised without opposition of the neighbourhood, and for how long it continued so ; and whether the present possessor gave a consideration on the presumption fiom former sufferance, that he Inight carry on his trade without interruption. Article 5.?History of the Guinea Worm, and, of the Method of Cure employed by the .Hindoos, ; > . This is an useful paper, and we sincerely hope that the author, who is not a medical man, has not been deceived by spontaneous cures.
He remarks in file early part, of the paper, that he administered his'remedy almost always with success.. V.I sav/' continues hej " almost always; because in two or thrie cases it failed of producing its effect ; the person who 'took k a first time refusing to take it again, which is often neCessary wlien the disease is inveterate.
However obstinate the disease 'may he, the; remedy when taken a second time will carry it off,, byforqirig the worm to come out, if it be already formed, or by preventing its' formation, if taken at an early stage of the disease." A description of the disease follows, and of thelwvorm also, as well as the supposed source of both. By the auVhorVatcpunt, the probability would seem that it :ife imbibed with'the qomirtori water of the country, and finds its way from the st<jriia:ch to the extremities ; but of this he is too cautious to speak decidedly. " But whatever may be the cause or origin of thi disease," continues Mr. Dubois, " it will be enough for me if the remedy I propose proves a specific for its cure; and I will'nb\V'relate an* instance which, independently of experience, would prove its'effr-' eacy. A long time before I was acquainted with'this remedy, conversing with the natives on the disease, it was many times remarked that the Bramins were never or very rarely affected with it, although living in villages where the other inhabitants., were .con-^ stantly visited by it every year ; but I never paid.any attention to such a remark, considering it as one of those idle assertions so common amongst the natives, for which no apparent cause can be alleged, excepting in this case, to attribute that exemption as a privilege exclusively attached to the sacred character of that order of men.
Reflecting, however, on that remark, after being acquainted with the remedy, I was led to suppose that this exemption of the Bramiris from the disease must be attributed to the constant and daily use which they make of theassafcctidd, or perodngqhya'tv, as one of the principal ingredients in their food, which is also the principal ingredient in the remedy." The paper concludes with a very sensible letter from Dr. Anderson, who, though less sanguine in the virtues of the remedy, pays a proper respect to this, as to every other suggestion, from ing been restored after an artificial anus had been for a time established. We believe such cases arc not so rare as the writers suppose ; but till the means of medical communication became so easy as at present, men were less anxious to inform the public of the resources of nature, than of the success of their own operations.
/ Article 9-?Case of Tic Doloreuse. By George Kitson, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. In this instance the pain was situated over the orbit of the left eye, immediately in the sitxiation of the frontal nerve. This last was divided by an incision about an inch in length, directly above the eyebrow down to the bone. A spasm succeeded the operation, but from that time the patient has remained free. The wound healed by the first intent.
We would suggest, whether the success of this operation may not depend on the certainty of dividing the nerve and every collateral branch, which may have an immediate communication. In this case there is the fairest proof of such complete division of the nerve, as the skin of the forehead, in which the divided nerve is distributed, is now deprived of sensation. The operation was more simple than in the more usual place near the zygoma. In these cases we suspect the want of success may arise from some small branches of the nerves below the bony process being left undivided.
Article 1Q.?Account of Dr. Gall's Discoveries regarding the Structure of the Brain. By T. Rosenmuller, Professor of Anatomy at Leipsic. Article 11.?The Enquirer, No. 6. On Herpes.
Every practitioner is so sensible of the difficulty of distinguishing, still more of describing, cutaneous diseases, that we are all willing to give as much credit as possible to those who will undertake such a task. Perhaps, as in some other instances, one reason for this general candour may be, that, conscious of our incapacity to satisfy our own minds, we are glad' of any authority under which we can shelter ourselves.
The present author attempts only three divisions of cutaneous diseases : papulous eruptions, which, without any discharge, terminate in scurf; eruptions which, though not prone to suppuration, discharge a serous fluid, and terminate in scurf and scales; and pustulous eruptions, which suppurate-and terminate in crusts or scabs. Herpes the author confines to those of the second division. " The term herpes," says he, " should be confincd fro those clusters / The. Edinburgh Journal. clusters of minute pustules which do not end in suppuration, but discharge a serous fluid and terminate in scurf; sometimes in crusts. It will thus be separated from the simple papulous etuptioiv on the one hand, and from pustular ulcerating affections on the other." There is much appearance of accuracy in this statement, and it is far from our intention to discourage the endeavours of any one who will undertake so intricate a subject. But we wish every writer, who attempts correctness, to be first mindful of the importance of words : we are not pleased at meeting with the definition of pustules without pus, or suppuration. Perhaps we maybe accused of unnecessary nicety in this remark, but we have too good an opinion of the Enquirer to think he will suspecf us of any wanton severity.
The history given of herpes is too confined; it is, however, very correct of one species, excepting that, as far as our observations go, the patients are seldom in complete health. Towards evening a slight hectic comes on, during the exacerbation of itching, and sometimes pain in the parts affected is perceivable.
We were much surprized to find the author assert that this disease is not contagious. In cottages it is often found in the whole family, and will sometimes assume different appearances in different subjects, insomuch that nothing but the frequency of the occurrence would convince us that it is the same disease.
Had our author witnessed these varieties, we think he would haw marked some of them in his description of the disease. The paper concludes with some rational curative plans, and a proper reflection on the danger that is unnecessarily apprehended, from the application of local remedies. Under the third department of this Number, or Medical Intelligence, we have an account of the Medical Topography of Berlin, with the public institutions for the cultivation of medicine and for the relief of the sick, and a list of the diseases for the year 1804 : such records as these are always useful.?Dr. R. Pearson's mode oi treating the hooping,cough, which contains nothing new to our readers in the South ; the custom of giving repeated emetics being happily exploded for some years past.?Mr. Wilkinson's letters on his want of success in repeating the galvanic experiments of Pacchioni and Mr. Peele, without producing a similar result.?A repetition of the old questions from the Cancer Institution, from whom every medical man has been impatiently expecting some report: [Are these gentlemen to be for ever questioning without informing ? and is all their own and other peoples knowledge of that disease to remain for ever an arcanum, confined to their own archives ?]?The names of the gentlemen who received 'Doctor's degrees at the last Senatus Academicus, with the titles of their Theses ; and the Quarterly Report from the "Cary Street dispensary. Whenever doubts are entertained as to the necessity of medicine and physicians, one answer is always at hand, and is perhaps the best as. well as the safest that we can make. If no one were to study the nature of diseases and remedies, every one would be alike unable to propose the mode of cure, and more mischief would be done by those who are altogether ignorant, than by such whose education and experience, enable them to judge of the resources of nature, and of the properties of medicine. On this account, we are never averse to books of this kind? when they are written with caution, and pretend only to instruct tamilies till they can procure the best advice. By these means they lessen the impatience of the ignorant, and prevent the mischief which might be done by the forward and conceited.
While we make these allowances for works not strictly correct, orto.speak more technically, not perfectly regular; we cannot approve of that, affectation of superior knowledge, which will always have a certain degree of effect with those who are not competent to judge. Thus, we think many of the authors rubs on Dr. Buciian might have been spared. It is true, that writer proposes opening the wind-pipe in cases, where no means of removing a substance from the gullet prove successful. To this, our author says, " What advantage can possibly be derived from, making an opening in the wind-pipe, to remove a substance lodged in a different tube, must puzzle an anatpmist to conjecture. Should an apothecary, not conversant in anatomy, attempt to relieve a person in great agony and apparent danger, by following the author's advice, and after making an incision in the wind-pipe, and not finding the obstructing body there, should be'induced to cut into the gullet, the life of the patient would be inevitably destroyed." Now we thought both these doctors had written for families, who could not procure an apothecary in time. For .Dr. R. should recollect, that .apothecaries are now.generally like himself, Fellows, of the College of Surgeons in London, or educated in the same manner.
If % gentleman of this description should arrive, though,, like Dr/Reece, he should submit to keep an open shop, yet the probability is, that he would dissect carefully for the gullet. Bui ~ befors before his arrival, the patient might die, for want-of expanding.the lungs from the mechanical pressure of the trachea by the substance lodged in the gullet. We have not seen what Dr. Buchan says on this subject, but certainl, all this is to be expected ; and forlorn as the chance may be, it probably is the only one for saving the patient in such an emergency.
Under the article phthisis pulmonalis, the author has availed himself of that division suggested by Dr. Adams, in his paper on the climate of Madeira, contained in the fifth volume of our Journal.
We wish Dr. Reere had chosen a better term than adhesu (iahesu must be an error of the press), a very unciasuical word, and by no means explicit, as it should rather be appropriated to Common adhesion with the.pleura when applied to the lungs. ' This is a well meant effusion on the advantages of a practice, which we believe, would have been more general, if its friends had been less zealous. But the same warmth of temper which leads to one system, is equally impetuous in another. Thus, the Ephesian matron, who could exist no where but by her de?d husband's corpse, was the readiest at receiving the addresses of a living suitor This allusion is not entirely out of point, when^we consider how great an advocate Dr. Lettsom was for small-pox inoculation, without even those cautions which Baron Dimsdale's good sens# and moderation thought it right to propose ; yet the Baron never condescended to call names : he conceived that Drs. Wilkinson, Lettsom, and-others, had very good intentions, though they might be somewhat mistaken.
Wo are aware it will be said, that when Dr. Lettsom supported his friend Dr. Wilkinson, and others, the cow-pox was unknown. The only advantage we ever could find in the Brunonian system has been, that every one moulded it in some measure to his. oWn opinion. We mean not John's own theory, for that was stubborn, and to that he died a martyr; but we mean the manner in -which it has been at different times modelled; however, one thing is very remarkable, that no person to whom the public has looked up as possessing superior talent, has given himself any concern about it. The writer before us, is certainly a man of no mean abilities or inconsiderable erudition, and as such we hope to see him employed in some original work more worthy of himself than the 'subject he has-now selected.
The author informs us that he felt particularly disposed to this task, by perusing Dr. Garnet's Lectures on Zoonomia. " In pursuance of this intention," says he, " I shall consider the Brunonian System in four points of view; and endeavour ta prove, in the first, place, " That its principles are not founded upon the true laws of the. animal economy; "Next, That they are contradictory and inconsistent in themselves; " Thirdly, That they are not sufficiently general in their application to diseases; and, " Finally, That they may lead to dangerous errors in practice. " As it has been said by Dr. Garnett, that Brown did not clearly, understand his own system; in order to meet the question as fairly and fully as the subject requires, I shall discuss each particular head of examination with a reference, as far as is necessary, to the sentiments of both these gentlemen, as d^liv^red in their particular works; and as the favourers of the Brunonian System have, ever been particularly desirous of making it appear that his theory is founded upon the principles of the Newtonian Philosophy, I shall require no other ground for my reasoning than these principles, taken in their fullest extent; and in particular Sir Isaac Newton's first rule of philosophising, and the law of gravitation, mentioned by Dr. Garnett as having been particularly kept in view by Dr. Brown in all his deductions. " The first rule of Philosophising is, tliat no other causes of natural things ought to be admitted but such as are true in fact, and sufficient to explain the phenomena. This is agreeable to those received maxims, that Nature does nothing in vain, and that it is in vain to make use of more things where fewer will do as well; for Nature always takes the best and wisest course, that is, the most simple and free from superfluity. Gravitation, according to Sir Isaac Newton's Theory of the Universe, is that power by which all heavy bodies near the earth tend to its centre, with a force proportionate to their quantity of matter: by this law the moon also tends to the centre of the earth, and the waters of the sea to the